If you are a TV junkie and love Friends, Desperate Housewives, Tonight Show and Lost...read this book.
On the sidelines, you'll realize how the best series on TV come to the audience because of random events. Some executive, somewhere, talking to someone comes across a script or idea he likes and one thing leads to another. To think that Desperate Housewives or Lost could never have been made, that Joey could have been thrown out of Friends, that Conan O'Brien had to wait 5 years before taking Jay Leno's seat...makes you wonder whether process is really bigger than people.
In the end, this is a story of the people behind the scenes who bring entertainment to our TV every night. Their whims and fancies guide which channel we switch to at 9pm. Supersize egos and edgy talent - this book covers a whole lot of ground in the US TV industry.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
A switch in times......
I recently switched from Times of India to Hindustan Times. Trust me, the changeover has not been easy. Having woken up with the TOI masthead for close to my whole living adult memory (except when TOI was Strait Times in Singapore), it was a bit disorienting to see a different bluish band on top of the daily awakener.
But once you get past the facade, a sense of pleasure has come back into reading. Times of India, I felt had become too commercial. On top of that, some of their journalism was becoming plain ignorant. I read some of their education reports for example with some horror, where facts were presented without any investigation and analysis to construe that International Schools in Mumbai were in fact more in number than either CBSE schools or ICSE schools. Also, sometimes I wasn't sure whether I was reading news or a paid placement.
Hindustan Times has been a refreshing change - more content, less ads. HT Cafe is the same - its thinner but that's because it is not filled with senseless paid Page 3 material. Their sports coverage is far superior to TOI - and I'm loving it!
But once you get past the facade, a sense of pleasure has come back into reading. Times of India, I felt had become too commercial. On top of that, some of their journalism was becoming plain ignorant. I read some of their education reports for example with some horror, where facts were presented without any investigation and analysis to construe that International Schools in Mumbai were in fact more in number than either CBSE schools or ICSE schools. Also, sometimes I wasn't sure whether I was reading news or a paid placement.
Hindustan Times has been a refreshing change - more content, less ads. HT Cafe is the same - its thinner but that's because it is not filled with senseless paid Page 3 material. Their sports coverage is far superior to TOI - and I'm loving it!
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Pati, Patni aur Woh
What makes parents put their children through an experience such as PPW is beyond my comprehension. Is it money? Is it fame? I think it is just another example of the Indian 'Chalta hai' attitude.
Too often, I have come across people who don't say it in words, but still express eloquently how they think we are paranoid and OC parents. The two most frequent quotes I have heard are, " Hamare zamaane mein to itna nahi karte the.....phir bhi hum theek thaak hi nikal aaye hain!" or "Kuch nahi hota.....bachche apne aap barhe ho jaate hain".
I think people who have volunteered their babies for the show are well-meaning, loving parents. They don't really think they are doing anything untoward to the baby by putting her through the ordeal that is PPW. They would have been taken in by the assurances of the channel, the availability of doctors & nurses, the free flow of coke and pizza and the air conditioning. What can go wrong? 'Hum wahin pe the.....barhe achhe se khayal rakha ji unho ne bachchon ka' - they would say. 'Ek din mein kya ho jana hai......different experience ho gaya!' - would be the other response.
I don't really think the question is whether the experience (or nightmare) of spending 24 hours with strangers is detrimental to the child or not. The question is how far can parents take their natural right to decide what is right or wrong for the child till he is old enough to decide for himself. Where does one draw the line between eager and irresponsible parenting? Shouldn't we see the child's protests and cries as adequate evidence of his disagreement and accord it the respect it deserves? Or should parents conclude that they know what is best for their child and go with what suits their fancy?
PPW sickens me but this whole tamasha raises important questions on what is Good Parenting. The least we can do is NOT watch the show - else this TRP race will have cripples flying down ramps to see who falls the farthest!
Too often, I have come across people who don't say it in words, but still express eloquently how they think we are paranoid and OC parents. The two most frequent quotes I have heard are, " Hamare zamaane mein to itna nahi karte the.....phir bhi hum theek thaak hi nikal aaye hain!" or "Kuch nahi hota.....bachche apne aap barhe ho jaate hain".
I think people who have volunteered their babies for the show are well-meaning, loving parents. They don't really think they are doing anything untoward to the baby by putting her through the ordeal that is PPW. They would have been taken in by the assurances of the channel, the availability of doctors & nurses, the free flow of coke and pizza and the air conditioning. What can go wrong? 'Hum wahin pe the.....barhe achhe se khayal rakha ji unho ne bachchon ka' - they would say. 'Ek din mein kya ho jana hai......different experience ho gaya!' - would be the other response.
I don't really think the question is whether the experience (or nightmare) of spending 24 hours with strangers is detrimental to the child or not. The question is how far can parents take their natural right to decide what is right or wrong for the child till he is old enough to decide for himself. Where does one draw the line between eager and irresponsible parenting? Shouldn't we see the child's protests and cries as adequate evidence of his disagreement and accord it the respect it deserves? Or should parents conclude that they know what is best for their child and go with what suits their fancy?
PPW sickens me but this whole tamasha raises important questions on what is Good Parenting. The least we can do is NOT watch the show - else this TRP race will have cripples flying down ramps to see who falls the farthest!
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